Parental Incarceration
The children of the apprehended parents tend to suffer from social, psychological, and environmental stigma. School-aged adolescents face discrimination, are highly bullied by their peers, and have deteriorated prosocial skills. In the United States, approximately 47% of individuals in state prison are parents of minors. The investigator investigates whether the children of incarcerated parents face increased ecological, psychological, and interaction stigma contrasted to their colleagues whose guardians are not imprisoned. Parental incarceration negatively impacts school-aged adolescents by making them inadequate guidance and interactive skills, thus deteriorating their well-being.
Research Questions
The primary research question is what are the social, psychological, and environmental stigmas experienced by school-aged adolescents whose parents have been detained? The other specific research questions for the study were as follows:
- How do school-aged children with incarcerated guardians encounter social stigma from their peers and teachers?
- To what extent do school-going adolescents with imprisoned parents experience shame and internalized stigma?
- How do school-aged children with apprehended parents perceive their environmental stigma, including lack of teacher support?
- How can societal members, policymakers, and teachers reduce stigmas related to parental imprisonment?
Topic Fit to Psychological Field
The topic of stigma encountered by school-aged adolescents with imprisoned guardians fits effectively into the field of psychology, mainly concerning clinical, social, and developmental areas. Developmental psychology focuses on studying how people develop and transform throughout their lives. Parental incarceration and its effect on children’s welfare is a critical component of the field, as it investigates how adolescents’ environments and experiences transition their developmental trajectories. When teachers and policymakers comprehend the effects of stigma on school-aged children, they develop interventions to mitigate negative outcomes. In addition, social psychology examines how people interact with each other and how institutions impact their behavior. The social stigma encountered by adolescents with apprehended parents relates to the psychology discipline as it examines how societal beliefs and attitudes about incarceration affect children’s relationships. On the other hand, clinical psychology emphasizes understanding and treating mental health issues. Parental detainment causes traumatic experiences for children, a relevant topic associated with clinical psychology as it explores the long-term consequences of exposure to guardian imprisonment.
Research Findings/Literature Review
Environmental Stigma Experienced by School-Aged Adolescents
The earlier literature has investigated the social stigma encountered by children of incarcerated parents in their school settings. The study findings indicate that children experienced stigmatization from school staff, teachers, teachers, and peers, thus making them not receive support (Herreros-Fraile et al., 2023). Such stigmatization was associated with negative outcomes, including escalated behavioral problems, declining academic performance, and lower self-esteem. The study’s strength is that investigators utilized qualitative interviews with school-aged adolescents to gain insight into their lived experiences. Nevertheless, the study’s limitation is that it concentrated on children’s experiences in the school setting and did not assess other environmental factors causing stigma.
Shame and Internalized Stigma Encountered by Children with Incarcerated Parents
Several studies have examined the effect of parental incarceration on adolescents’ psychological well-being. The D’Aniello et al.’s (2022) study suggests that school-aged children with imprisoned parents reported increased depression, anxiety, escalated aggressiveness, and lower self-esteem. Parental incarceration has a profound negative effect on adolescents’ mental well-being, where they experience increased shame and deteriorated confidence, making them record increased school out and illnesses. The study’s strength is that the researchers used a large sample size and validated measures to examine adolescent psychological well-being. Nonetheless, the research’s limitation is that investigators depended on self-report measures, which may be subject to bias.
Social Stigma Experienced by School-Aged Children
The current literature showcases that school-aged adolescents with detained parents continue to experience social stigmatization. The study by Hermann et al. (2022) suggested that teachers, peers, and societal members neglect adolescents, indicating that they have negative social behaviors. Therefore, most children encounter loneliness, do not interact with other people, and have deteriorated prosocial skills since they experience bullying from colleagues. Parental incarceration is associated with adverse socialization behaviors and declined academic performance. The strength of the review is that investigators utilized multiple references to support the findings. However, the study’s weakness is that it relied on previously published studies using different measures and methodologies.
Interventions to Reduce Parental Incarceration-Related Stigmas
The earlier literature has spearheaded several interventions that teachers, policymakers, and society members can adopt to reduce social, psychological, and environmental stigmas experienced by school-aged adolescents. Muentner & Eddy (2023) indicate that policymakers must develop policies mandating learning institutions’ management to implement mental awareness programs to increase student socialization. The teachers and community members must have training and education initiatives concerning parental incarceration to improve the psychological well-being of children. The study’s methodological strength is that investigators embedded previous research studies to support their findings. Nevertheless, the research’s limitation is that the researchers used an insufficient sample size for statistical measurements, which limited the effectiveness of interventions offered by respondents to reduce stigmas.
Research Gaps
The literature studies have examined parental incarceration’s psychological, social, and environmental impacts on school-aged adolescents’ well-being. However, limited literature has investigated the specific experiences of the stigma children of imprisoned guardians may face. The proposed research questions aim to fill the gap by examining the extent and nature of stigma encountered by school-going children and offer insights into how stigma impacts their psychological, social, and environmental well-being. The earlier research has highlighted the essentiality of interventions addressing the needs of children of detained parents (Muentner & Eddy, 2023). Nonetheless, a research gap exists on the effectiveness of such measures in minimizing stigma and facilitating pragmatic outcomes for children. The proposed study queries aims to contribute to such research area by exploring how teachers and societal members can better support school-aged adolescents with apprehended parents to reduce stigma.
Conclusion
The research’s existing body on the effect of parental imprisonment on adolescents’ well-being highlights the need for interventions to address environmental, social, and psychological obstacles encountered by children in a school setting. The proposed research questions aim to address such challenges by examining the experiences of stigma among school-aged adolescents with detained parents and exploring how teachers and societal members can support them. The study can inform practices and policies reinforcing the unique needs of children with imprisoned parents and reduce the social, psychological, and ecological stigma among them. In addition, by exploring the interventions’ effectiveness in promoting the pragmatic outcomes for children of incarcerated parents, the suggested research queries prompt policymakers to develop evidence-based measures to minimize real-world issues, including loneliness, bullying, and depression, among the population. The study’s findings can have practical implications for school teachers and lawyers to work integratively in creating stigma awareness regarding parental incarceration.
The earlier literature indicates the impact of parental imprisonment on school-aged adolescents’ well-being and highlights the need for further investigation into the experiences of stigma among such children. The proposed research questions address the gap by investigating the extent and nature of psychological, social, and environmental stigma by adolescents and exploring how teachers and community members can support them. The research questions help policymakers develop interventions supporting adolescents and address the main argument that school-going children experience stigma, which must be reduced, as they are a vulnerable population.
References
D’Aniello, C., Tambling, R., & Russell, B. (2022). The internalized stigma of substance abuse scale for caregivers: Measuring substance use stigma experienced by caregivers. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 40(1), 83-92.
Muentner, L., & Eddy, J. M. (2023). What they don’t know won’t hurt them?: Linking children’s knowledge of parental incarceration to child well-being during reentry. Children and Youth Services Review, 144(5), 106-119. Web.
Hermann, V., Durbeej, N., Karlsson, A. C., & Sarkadi, A. (2022). Feeling mentally unwell is the “new normal”. A qualitative study on adolescents’ views of mental health problems and related stigma. Children and Youth Services Review, 143(7), 110-123. Web.
Herreros-Fraile, A., Carcedo, R. J., Viedma, A., Ramos-Barbero, V., Fernández-Rouco, N., Gomiz-Pascual, P., & Del Val, C. (2023). Parental incarceration, development, and well-being: A developmental systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 3143. Web.